Do Psychometric tests work?

Psychometric is the study of educational and psychological quantities. The word “psychometric” is used to describe psychological tests that are used in educational and professional areas. These standard tests are proven to be reliable and valid measures to confirm areas like personality, aptitude, and interest of the candidates appearing for them.

These type of tests are useful when you are trying to figure out which career you want to choose in your life, and appearing for these tests will bring out the unknown and less obvious attributes by providing objective data for individual measurements.

‘Interest’ related psychometric tests conducted online are directed to evaluate a person’s interests and preferences in the career he chooses. These tests are used mainly for career counselling. ‘Interest’ tests include questions about day-to-day activities from among which students/individuals appearing for the tests can select their preferences. The actual idea is to compare and see if the person taking the test would exhibit the same pattern of interests as people who are already successful in a similar occupations and who are enjoying their jobs. If the comparison proves that the pattern is similar then the chances are high that the person taking the test will find satisfaction in that occupation.

This test is very useful for people whose career interests have changed over the years.‘Interest’psychometric tests measure how people differ in their drive, values, and opinions in relation to their interests. While the test itself does not tell you if you would be successful in a career of your choice, it points to you where you could start your search and focus your efforts. A widely used interest psychometric test is the ‘Strong Interest Inventory’, which is used in career assessment, career counselling, and educational guidance. It is a career planning tool that aids both academic and business groups develop the talent and has guided thousands of students from high school and college students to working professionals seeking a change in their careers.

The goal of this assessment is to give insight into a person’s interests, so that they may have less difficulty in deciding an appropriate career choice for themselves. It is also often used for educational guidance as one of the most popular career assessment tools. The test was developed in 1927 by psychologist Edward Kellog Strong, Jr. to help people exiting the military find suitable jobs. It has been revised later and has many versions available now. The Strong test is designed for high school students, college students, and adults, and was found to be at about the ninth-grade reading level. Many people find that the Strong test confirms what they’ve felt inside all along.

This psychometric interest test relies on the idea that interests can categorized as liking and disliking that could be used to discriminate among various occupational groups. The results of the tests can be optimized by grouping the people based on their answers and thereby understanding their interests.

The Strong Interest Inventory is high in analytical and synchronized validity. The test can typically be taken in 30-45 minutes after which the results must be scored by computer. After scoring, an individual can view how their personal interests compare with the interests of people in a specific career field. There are many versions of this interest test irrespective of whether you are in high school or college or already in a job. The newly revised version of this test consists of 291 items that measure an individual’s interest in six areas like occupations subject areas, Activities, leisure activities, people and the person’s characteristics.

If you are not sure of your instincts, taking these interest psychometric tests that backs up your instincts would be of real help and these tests do just that along with eliminating other choices that are not suitable for you. This is especially useful if you decide among many available alternatives that helps to see the patterns in your interests. The report generated following the test can help to narrow your search further and make an appropriate career choice.

If a test is supposed to measure a person’s interests, then it must clearly demonstrate that it does actually measure interests, and not something else that’s just related to interests.Interestingly, it has been proven that these interest tests give consistent results, and are not significantly influenced by outside factors like a person’s level of stress or excitement while taking the test. Moreover, the validity of the test is very reliable. It is also very important that the effective psychometric tests must be relevant to the modern workplace and these interest tests have proven to be satisfying this criterion too.

Psychometric interest tests also save a great deal of time, normally very easy to administer, which can be given to a group of people easily and can even be completed online. This, provides a time advantage, and it can reduce costs considerably compared to other methods. People can take the tests from anywhere, and the results are precisely scored each time.

So Psychometric interest tests are very useful and surely work for the aspirants who take them as these tests are put together by experts to make sure that they are accurate. They are backed up by evidence that shows how well they work, so there would be no worry about the tests being unfair.These tests are very helpful in deciding a person’s career and doubtlessly work towards catering to their needs.

About the Author:

Renu Kishor, works as Content Analyst @CareerGuide.com. Beside her work she also has a keen interest in counseling students to take the right stride towards achieving their career goals. She like to write, listen to music besides travelling to exotic locations.